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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 28, ISSUE 1 70
to go, and helps us have a big season
to get Purdue soccer back to where it
belongs.' "
It's been a rough go of late. In try-
ing to rebuild a program that once
went to the NCAA Tournament six
times in an eight-year span (2002-
09), including a Sweet 16 appearance
in 2003, Roff has gradually molded
the Boilermakers into the aggressive,
attacking group he prefers.
But the effort took a sidetrack last
season, particularly after Williams,
Purdue's fifth-leading goal scorer
all-time (24) entering this season,
was lost to injury on the final prac-
tice of the previous spring.
It sapped the Boilermakers of
their top goal-scorer, and the results
might have been predictable; Purdue
finished only 4-12-1 last season, in-
cluding a 2-8-1 mark in the Big Ten.
"We've worked really hard over the
spring in getting the right culture and
now we're putting it on the field,"
Korolas said. "We have a lot of experi-
ence in terms of minutes on the field,
and playing with each other for four
years, knowing where we're going to
be, like (finding each other) on runs."
But Purdue will have to overcome
mental hurdles, not just physical
ones. It happens when a program
has had difficult times — Purdue's
not finished better than 10th in the
Big Ten since 2011 — but there are
signs the Boilermakers might be
getting mentally right.
Purdue split its first two games of
the season, upending Kent State on
opening night Aug. 19 2-1, then fall-
ing to Loyola Marymount two days
later, giving up two goals in the fi-
nal six minutes. In the opener, not
only did Williams score her first goal
Canadian Connection
V
anessa Korolas felt a little
apprehensive.
The Canadian didn't want her
club teammate, Andrea Petrina, to
feel like she was only following her
along to Purdue, perhaps stealing a
bit of the limelight by also signing
with the Power 5 school in the Big
Ten.
So Korolas gave her a call to see if
it was OK.
"She was a little nervous and
asked me," Petrina said. "And I was
like, 'Of course.' We're great friends.
I thought it was a good addition,
made for an easier transition."
Purdue is glad for it.
The Ontario natives — Korolas
is from Mississauga while Petrina
is from Hamilton — are two of only
a handful of seniors for the Boiler-
makers. The two are captains, along
with fifth-year senior Maddy Wil-
liams and Erika Yohn, who will need
to lead a big group of 12 freshmen.
They have the experience to gain
the respect of their teammates;
Korolas, a defender, has started 54
consecutive games, dating back to
the start of the 2014 season, while
Petrina, a midfielder, has 35 starts
in the same span.
"As our program has been in tran-
sition these last couple years, what
you really hope for is that you have
a handful of players who you can
count on to set the standard, play-
ers that you know are going to be in
the starting lineup as long as they're
healthy," third-year coach Drew Roff
said. "Vanessa and (Andrea) have
provided us that consistency that
we really needed. They've been defi-
nitely two of the bright spots the last
couple seasons, and it's really ex-
citing to watch them grow over the
last couple years and I know they've
invested a lot into their senior sea-
sons.
"Just to see the way that they've
welcomed the freshmen class and
empowered it says a great deal about
their character and says a great deal
about how much they want to win.
They're at the point in their careers
where they've gotten a lot of min-
utes and they've played some great
soccer but for them it's all about
the team success and they're will-
ing to do whatever they can to get
us to where we want to go. When
you have team leaders like that, you
can't help but be very optimistic for
the season."
Korolas and Petrina are in a
long line of Canadians who played
for the Boilermakers, the most no-
table being Lauren Sessellmann,
who played at Purdue from 2001-
05, then for the Canadian National
Team starting in 2011.
Freshman Hannah Melchiorre is
the latest Canadian Boilermaker,
hailing from Thunder Bay, Ontario.
They came because of the chance
to play against the best in the world.
"In my opinion, America has
(presented) more of an opportu-
nity to play soccer," Korolas said.
"It's a really big part of my life and
I wanted to take the next step. I felt
like coming to America would real-
ly help with that."
— Kyle Charters